West helps Hornets edge slumping Knicks in OT

Apr 1, 2007 - 5:09 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- The New Orleans Hornets kept their
postseason dreams afloat, while the New York Knicks' might be
fading away.

David West scored 20 points to lead six players in double
figures as the Hornets posted a 103-94 overtime victory over the
Knicks, who wasted an impressive performance by Eddy Curry.

Desmond Mason added 19 points and Chris Paul chipped in 16 and
four steals for the Hornets (33-40), who remained three games
behind the Los Angeles Clippers (36-37) and Denver (35-36) for
the Western Conference's final playoff spot.

Despite the win, Hornets coach Byron Scott was still upset with
his club's mental mistakes.

"It is amazing to me that we make the same mistakes over and
over again," Scott said. "I told our coaches that we were going
to win the game in spite of ourselves. We are the reason it
went into overtime, and it never should have got there,"

New York (31-42) has only won twice in its last 10 games,
falling three games behind Orlando (34-39) and New Jersey in the
Eastern Conference playoff race with nine contests left.

The 6-11 Curry collected 34 points and 13 rebounds for his first
double-double in six outings.

"We just couldn't get the ball out of Curry's hands," West said.
"He is tough and his size works to his advantage. He is a big
load on the inside. That is something they took advantage of."

In the extra session, Mason drained an eight-footer and Paul
connected on a 3-pointer at the 3:17 mark as the Hornets grabbed
the lead for good, 97-92.

Curry's layup made it a three-point game, but Paul hit a jumper,
then fed Mason for a back-breaking one-handed jam over Channing
Frye with 43 seconds to go.

"I wasn't about to let this one get away," Paul said. "We need
to pretty much win out to guarantee ourselves a spot in the
playoffs, but when it gets to crunch time my teammates did a
good job of taking what they gave us."

"I've never said this before but I think it needs to be made, how
Marbury is being treated by the officials, I don't understand why
a guy for all his career has been a player who drives to the
basket and get to the foul line," Thomas said. "I don't understand
what he has done, or why he is getting the lack of respect he
is getting from the officials.

"That's not why we lost the game, we did a lot of things to lose
the game. But I would hope he would be treated like other star
players are treated. There is only so much a player can take
before it starts to effect his game. He is officiated
differently than other guards in this game."

In regulation, New York rallied behind an impressive 12-0 burst
capped by Nate Robinson's 3-pointer with the shot-clock expiring
to take an 89-88 lead with 1:14 remaining.

Mason and Paul each sank a pair of free throws to help the
Hornets regain the edge at 92-89 with 17 seconds remaining. But
Robinson came through once again with another shot from the arc
seven seconds later, forcing overtime.

"I had to let it go, I feel like everytime I shoot it's going
in," Robinson said. "It was a big shot but it wasn't enough to
out us over the edge and get the win, so it really doesn't
matter now. Eddy (Curry) attracted everyone to him like a
magnet and I got open for the shot."